What about books?
A 13 year old student writes… "I need discernment regarding the books I read. What is your opinion about books? Are they better than electronic media? Are some books not worth reading?
Answer: Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. may not be electronic but they are definitely considered media. The same principles that we teach regarding media discernment also apply to books. Books may not be read as widely as they used to before electronic media began to dominate our culture's lifestyles but nevertheless they have a powerful influence in our lives and in culture. You can trace many cultural shifts (for good or for bad) in history to the influence of books.
Here is an example from the Bible regarding media discernment…
"And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18-19)
A piece of silver was the amount of a day's wage for a common laborer. That means if you work eight hours and day and make eight dollars an hour it would be equal to 3.2 million dollars worth of books today. WOW! Talk about media choices.
Are books better than electronic media? That's a difficult question to answer because it's comparing apples and oranges. There are good books and worthless books. There is good media and worthless media. The real question is "what's the message?" I know of one book that is better than electronic media… the Bible!
Some books are definitely not worth reading just as much as there is some entertainment that is not worth consuming. Jesus said that we are to enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow path and there are few who follow it. The broad path is the way to destruction and there are many who march along the broad way, writing books and producing entertainment for the masses marching with them.
The following is a quote from the late preacher A.W. Tozer on the subject of discernment regarding books…
"Tolerance of noxious literature is not a mark of intellectual size, it may be a mark of a secret sympathy with evil. Every book should stand or fall on its merit, altogether apart from the reputation of its author. The fact that a nasty and suggestive book was written by an accepted writer does not make it the less harmful. Christians should judge a book by its purity, not by the reputation of its author. The desire to appear broad minded is one not easy to overcome, for it is rooted in our ego and is simply a none too subtle form of pride. In the name of broadmindedness many a Christian home has been opened to literature that sprang not from a broad mind but from a mind little and dirty and polluted with evil. We require our children to wipe their feet before entering the house. Dare we demand less of the literature that comes into our home?"
A 13 year old student writes… "I need discernment regarding the books I read. What is your opinion about books? Are they better than electronic media? Are some books not worth reading?
Answer: Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. may not be electronic but they are definitely considered media. The same principles that we teach regarding media discernment also apply to books. Books may not be read as widely as they used to before electronic media began to dominate our culture's lifestyles but nevertheless they have a powerful influence in our lives and in culture. You can trace many cultural shifts (for good or for bad) in history to the influence of books.
Here is an example from the Bible regarding media discernment…
"And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18-19)
A piece of silver was the amount of a day's wage for a common laborer. That means if you work eight hours and day and make eight dollars an hour it would be equal to 3.2 million dollars worth of books today. WOW! Talk about media choices.
Are books better than electronic media? That's a difficult question to answer because it's comparing apples and oranges. There are good books and worthless books. There is good media and worthless media. The real question is "what's the message?" I know of one book that is better than electronic media… the Bible!
Some books are definitely not worth reading just as much as there is some entertainment that is not worth consuming. Jesus said that we are to enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow path and there are few who follow it. The broad path is the way to destruction and there are many who march along the broad way, writing books and producing entertainment for the masses marching with them.
The following is a quote from the late preacher A.W. Tozer on the subject of discernment regarding books…
"Tolerance of noxious literature is not a mark of intellectual size, it may be a mark of a secret sympathy with evil. Every book should stand or fall on its merit, altogether apart from the reputation of its author. The fact that a nasty and suggestive book was written by an accepted writer does not make it the less harmful. Christians should judge a book by its purity, not by the reputation of its author. The desire to appear broad minded is one not easy to overcome, for it is rooted in our ego and is simply a none too subtle form of pride. In the name of broadmindedness many a Christian home has been opened to literature that sprang not from a broad mind but from a mind little and dirty and polluted with evil. We require our children to wipe their feet before entering the house. Dare we demand less of the literature that comes into our home?"
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